Three Muses gets Korean menu update

Behind the scenes: Lee nearly sold Three Muses in 2024.

• The near-decision came after a particularly rough series of life changes and economic challenges for the business — including both the end of a 20-year relationship and the coronavirus pandemic — Lee tells Axios New Orleans.
• "Three Muses took a backseat," she admits, and eventually, "I could no longer afford a manager, a dishwasher, a host, a prep cook."

As a last-ditch effort to try to make it work before selling the business, Lee figured she had to give it a shot herself, too.

• "I just really did pull up my bootstraps and said, 'I'm gonna do this,' and if all these things don't work, then I'll sell and I'll feel I tried everything I possibly could," Lee says.

Zoom in: Lee has worked in restaurants since she was 18, but never on the line.

• "I always respected [the kitchen staff] but even more so now," she says. "It's hard!"

Dig in: Lee retooled the menu to bring in more of the Korean flavors she grew up cooking with her mom, who died about two decades ago.

• Since Lee bought Three Muses 15 years ago, the menu has always had a rice bowl in honor of her mom. But now there are also ground beef bulgogi egg rolls with house-made kimchi and a Korean fried chicken sandwich.

What she says: "It's been fun, it's been exhausting, it's been educational, and it's been really emotionally healing for me," Lee says.